The Dance of the Mountain God: A Poem by Danny Bagucci

The Dance of the Mountain God

The claps begin,
Slow, petulant,
Like tiny drops of rain which then increase,
As feet pound the rocks, oblivious of the pain,

Higher and higher the tempo goes,
As men stand enthralled in worship of the mountain king,
Exploding sound, compelling throes,
As frenzied claps around the mountain ring.

And then the lull,
As silence like a cloak falls down;
An interlude between booming thunder claps.
The only sound a bell, dispelling the suspense.
A shuffle here, a sniffle there; intimating us of pain.

Then suddenly the claps restart,
Accompanied by the boom of drums,
Clanging cymbals as all take part, with frenzied steps, exploding sounds.
A cacophony berserk; children swaying, women swooning,
Ecstatic noises renting the air.

Building a crescendo, a climax of exploding sound,
Of feet that seem to beat alone,
Of sublime steps somehow gone berserk
In this dance, the dance of the mountain king

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(c) Danny Bagucci

Written by

Danny Bagucci

Born in 1979, I was fortunate to be introduced to poetry by my mother who was an English Literature major at the then University of Ife during the mid 70's. I trained as a Corrosion Engineer in Nigeria and have gone on to practice for a number of years post graduation. I currently spread what time I have between practicing in the UK, blogging and writing a collection of short stories, Growing Up, which aims to capture the unique perspective of a kid growing up amongst academics in Nigeria.